Seattle

ByAllegra Abramo |May 31, 2019

At the age of 16, A.S. had just made his high school football team when his life was upended. His mother was moving overseas, and he would have to go live with his remarried father and four step-siblings in another part of town.

Across the nation people are talking about this video of a police officer punching a teenage girl in the face during an altercation in Seattle. What lead to this moment, captured by a witness with a cell phone, may well be a case study in police reaction and teenage judgment. It started when Officer Ian Walsh spotted four girls jaywalking. He asked them to step over to his patrol car. According to police officials, the girls were “verbally antagonistic. “

The officer was alone on the street. One of the teens allegedly touched his arm. Pushing and shoving escalated into a struggle, and things quickly got out of hand. The police department at first defended the officer and blamed the girls for resisting arrest. But now the police chief is reviewing procedures and conducting an internal investigation. The police union says the officer was justified and followed his training.